Beyond Basic Prompts
Most Midjourney users type a simple description and accept whatever they get. But Midjourney is a sophisticated system with dozens of parameters and techniques that dramatically expand what's possible. This guide covers the techniques professional designers and creative directors use to get consistent, high-quality results.
Essential Parameters You Should Always Use
These parameters control fundamental aspects of Midjourney's output:
- --ar [ratio]: Aspect ratio. --ar 16:9 for landscape, --ar 9:16 for portrait, --ar 1:1 for square
- --v 6: Specify version 6 for the latest model
- --style raw: Less stylized, more photographic
- --q 2: Higher quality (slower, uses more GPU)
- --s [0-1000]: Stylize value. Lower = more prompt-adherent; higher = more artistic interpretation
The Lighting Formula
Lighting is the single most impactful element for photorealistic images. Use this formula: [light source] + [light quality] + [light direction]
- "Golden hour sunlight, soft and warm, from the left side"
- "Studio three-point lighting, clean white background"
- "Dramatic cinematic lighting, deep shadows, backlit"
- "Overcast diffused daylight, even and flat"
Camera and Lens Specification
Specifying camera details dramatically affects the realism and aesthetic of photographic prompts:
- "Shot on Sony A7R V, 85mm f/1.4 lens, shallow depth of field"
- "Hasselblad medium format, 80mm lens, editorial photography style"
- "Canon EOS R5, 24-70mm at 35mm, f/8, landscape photography"
- "Leica M10, 35mm Summicron, street photography"
Style Modifiers That Actually Work
These style descriptors reliably produce consistent aesthetic effects:
- Photographic styles: "editorial", "commercial", "documentary", "fine art photography"
- Art movements: "Bauhaus", "Art Deco", "Brutalism", "minimalism"
- Quality boosters: "masterpiece", "8K", "highly detailed", "professional photography"
- Mood: "cinematic", "ethereal", "moody", "vibrant", "melancholic"
Consistency Across Images
Creating a consistent visual style across multiple images requires two techniques:
Seed control: Use --seed [number] to get consistent base randomness. Note the seed from a successful image and reuse it for variations.
Style references: Use --sref [image URL] to apply the style of a reference image to new content.
Pro workflow: Generate one perfect "style image," then use --sref to apply that exact aesthetic to all subsequent images in your project.
Character References for Consistent People
The --cref parameter (character reference) maintains a consistent character appearance across different scenes and poses. Upload a clear reference image of your character, then use --cref [URL] to maintain their appearance in new compositions.
This feature is invaluable for brand mascots, storytelling, product modeling, and any project requiring a recurring character.
Negative Prompting with --no
Use --no to exclude unwanted elements: "--no text, watermark, blurry, low quality, ugly hands"
This is more intuitive than separate negative prompt fields and works well for quick exclusions.
The /describe Command
Upload any image to Midjourney and use /describe to get four different prompt interpretations of that image. This reverse-engineering technique is invaluable for:
- Learning how to prompt for styles you admire
- Finding vocabulary you didn't know to use
- Recreating the aesthetic of reference images
Building Your Prompt Template
Professional Midjourney users save prompt templates for different use cases. Here's a versatile photorealistic template:
[Subject], [action/pose], [environment/background], [lighting], shot on [camera] with [lens], [style], --ar 16:9 --v 6 --s 200
